puppetfandomcom-20200222-history
The Newsman
The Newsman is the weary, bespectacled Muppet News Flash anchor on The Muppet Show, debuting in episode 2. The Newsman always tried to deliver the news with accuracy, but was visibly flummoxed on camera by the day's latest bizarre story or interview. Interviews were a more common part of the News Flash in season 1, where the interviewees were portrayed by the show's guest star. From the second season onward, he suffered from a nasty streak of bad luck that usually culminated in some person or object - somehow related to the day's story - falling on his head. For example, a plea to return missing library books results in a pile of books falling on the Newsman from seemingly out of nowhere, and a stock market report that beef is falling dramatically causes a cow to plummet upon his person. One Muppet Show episode had random objects falling on another Muppet, which causes Kermit to question what is happening, as "things are only supposed to fall on the Newsman!" One would think the solution would be to give up the news after so many mishaps (but that would obviously end the sketches), but due to either dedication to his craft or a limited sense of self-preservation, the Newsman keeps plugging along. Apart from his Muppet Show berth, the veteran journalist has presented breaking news bulletins in The Great Muppet Caper, A Muppet Family Christmas, and The Jim Henson Hour (as well as non-news related cameos in The Muppet Movie, The Muppets Take Manhattan and as an audience background character in Muppets Tonight). In The Muppets Take Manhattan, the Newsman is among the guests at Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy's wedding. He tells Sam the Eagle that they must wait for the bride and groom to arrive. More recently, he surfaced in the video games Muppets Inside and Muppet Party Cruise, in The Muppet Show Live at MuppetFest, and on Muppets TV. His most recent appearances include The Muppet Show Comic Book, the ''Rhapsody music ''video, and new News Flash segments on ''Muppets.com.'' In a picture from the set of The Muppets (2011), he appears in a scene with Scooter, Kathy Griffin, and Billy Crystal. Additional names *In the scripts for season 1 of The Muppet Show, the character was called Muppet Reporter. It was changed to the Newsman in season 2. *In The Muppet Show Annual 1977, he is called "The Muppet News Reporter." *In some merchandise, such as the Palisades Toys action figure of the Newsman, he is called Muppet Newsman. *In Muppet Party Cruise, he is listed as Muppet Newscaster. Casting History Main Performers *'Jim Henson': The Muppet Show (1976) - The Jim Henson Hour (1989) *'Steve Whitmire': Muppets.com (2008) - The Muppets (2016) Alternate Performers *'Jerry Nelson': Muppets Inside CD-ROM (1996) *'Brian Henson': The Muppet Show Live (2001) & Muppet Party Cruise (2003) * Eric Jacobson: The Muppets Take the Bowl (2017) Filmography *''The Muppet Show'' **episode 102 **episode 103 **episode 104 **episode 105 **episode 106 **episode 107 **episode 110 **episode 111 **episode 112 **episode 114 **episode 117 **episode 118 **episode 119 **episode 120 **episode 121 **episode 123 **episode 124 **episode 203 **episode 205 **episode 207 **episode 208 **episode 209 **episode 212 **episode 215 **episode 217 **episode 218 **episode 221 **episode 301 **episode 304 **episode 305 **episode 309 **episode 313 **episode 317 **episode 408 **episode 409 **episode 410 **episode 417 **episode 418 **episode 419 **episode 420 **episode 501 **episode 504 **episode 509 **episode 510 **episode 511 **episode 512 **episode 522 **episode 523 **episode 524 *''The Muppet Movie'' *''The Great Muppet Caper'' *''The Muppets Take Manhattan'' *''A Muppet Family Christmas'' *''The Jim Henson Hour'' **''episode 105'' *''Muppets Tonight'' **episode 102 (audience cameo) **episode 107 (audience cameo) **episode 108 (audience cameo) **episode 109 ("People's Court" and audience cameo) **episode 208 ("Johnny Fiama's Pasta Playhouse" cameo) *''The Muppet Show Live'' *Virmup **''Bohemian Rhapsody'' *The Muppet Show Theme Music Video *''The Muppets'' Book appearances *''The Muppet Show Book'' (1978) *''The Comic Muppet Book'' (1979) *''Robin Hood'' (1980) *''Muppets at Sea'' (1980) *''The Muppet Show Comic Book'' (2009) *''Muppet Robin Hood'' (2009) *''The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson'' (2009) *''The Muppet Show Comic Book: Pigs in Space'' (2009) See also *Muppet News Flash -- a listing of all of the Newsman's sketches Newsman Newsman